CAT | Makeover

Makeover Teacher Inspires Fellow Educators with the Benefits of an Extreme Science Classroom “Super teacher!” That’s how one fellow educator greeted Jenny Alvey between presentations at the Tennessee Educational Technology Conference in Nashville where Alvey led seminars on Thursday, Dec. 3 and Friday, Dec. 4 at the Nashville Convention Center. Alvey smiled but waved off […]

[youtube]ksHa87RO6iA[/youtube] Sixth-graders in Jenny Alvey’s fourth-period science class are using their new extreme classroom at Knox County’s Gresham Middle School to help them aim as high as the moon—and beyond. Using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) as the focus, Alvey’s students prepared a presentation and activity for Gresham Middle School’s “Super Stellar Space Spectacular.” It […]

Used to be that Gresham Middle School’s Room 309 was just another science classroom — attractive, colorful and equipped with a modest pair of aging PCs and a chart of the scientific method on the wall. Hardly exceptional. But that old science room now exists only in memory. After more than a month spent using […]

Had Gresham Middle School teacher Jenny Alvey not witnessed the gradual transformation of her sixth-grade science classroom all summer, she might not have recognized her once-familiar surroundings. The transformation came as a result of a $25K Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)-sponsored Extreme Classroom Makeover, which was awarded to Alvey in May. On August 13, ORAU […]

Jenny Alvey, a Gresham Middle School sixth-grade science teacher in Knoxville’s Fountain City community, breathed a sigh of relief once her classes resumed for the new school year. Or perhaps she could finally catch her breath from her fast-paced summer! Some teachers enjoy leisurely vacation travel or relax on some beach. Not Alvey. A Tennessee […]

On May 14, 2009, representatives from Oak Ridge Associated Universities—led by ORAU Interim President Homer Fisher—dropped in on Jenny Alvey’s 6th grade science class at Gresham Middle School to announce that Ms. Alvey was the first-ever winner of the $25,000 Extreme Classroom Makeover contest. [youtube]stHq7gAsZSY[/youtube] As the winner, Ms. Alvey will be sharing how she […]